i'm planning a trip where i'll need a rental car for 3 days (2 over a weekend), and was wondering whether anyone used their points for either National or Avis free rentals (i'm looking at the 20k level).

i'm wondering how much red-tape or extra costs (insurance, mileage used, gas fill-up, etc.) are involved, and whether using points for these programs is actually a good deal when its all said and done.

Twice I have used the one-week (40K points) award with Thrifty. I have found that the Avis and National locations that accept the Hilton awards are few in number, whereas most any Thrifty location will take them. However, you cannot just walk upto the counter and present the certificate! You need to ensure that the use of the award certificate is included in your reservation and I suggest making reservations well ahead of your trip (six months or more if possible) since these things are capacity controlled just like airline award tickets. I would also double check with Thrifty after you have made a reservation using the certificate to ensure it is really in there, as in one case when I called back it wasn't!

You will have to pay all the goofy taxes the rental car companies charge (or are forced to charge) just like any other rental. You will only be saving the actual cost of the daily/weekly charge, but this can still be a good deal depending on what those daily charges are.

Has anyone redeemed HH points for car rental. After some advice in other forums about using my Delta and UA miles (30k in each programme) for car rentals, I am thinking about transferring these miles into my HH account.

I would like to book a car for 2 weeks in the UK next year.

I see that the best offer seems to be Thrifty's 50% certificate. Has anyone redeemed this? Is it easier to redeem thses awards than trying to book a hotel room. After the mileage transfers I'll have about 200k points.

This is funny....first of all ...my 1-week National reward just cost 40K..not 50K. From what I understand...one can rent anything up to a full size with this cert. Where is it that Avis is $180/week for a full size???....that seems like a great deal.
I have a confirmation sheet in my hand that states "unlimited mileage" for this reward. Seems like most of the info posted here thus far is contradictory.

I'm with you. I used four of the 40K point National awards last summer, and was given unlimited mileage. It all went smoothly, and I got a full-size car.

(For those wondering why I used four weeks worth of awards......I wrecked my first new car after owning it for 3 weeks and I had had my car ins. policy since I was 18, so I never had rental car coverage put on the policy! As a driver under 25, it was real expensive to rent a car on my own, so these car rental awards saved me tons. Let's just say, I amended my car sins. policy right away)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by IM4Travel:This is funny....first of all ...my 1-week National reward just cost 40K..not 50K. From what I understand...one can rent anything up to a full size with this cert. Where is it that Avis is $180/week for a full size???....that seems like a great deal.
I have a confirmation sheet in my hand that states "unlimited mileage" for this reward. Seems like most of the info posted here thus far is contradictory. </font>

My reservation is for the Hawaii award which is 10k more than the mainland USA reward:

50,000 - National Car Rental: Free 1-week rental in Hawaii**/BN13

**Compact, Midsize, Fullsize 2-door, Fullsize 4-door.

I have heard before that Hawaii car rentals are fairly inexpensive compared to mainland USA so I don't know why HHonors charges 10k more.

I re-checked my reservation to make sure that I did not quote the wrong rate.

I am using HHonors points to rent a car for 2 days in Reno/Lake Tahoe - rates are extremely high. My question is: Has anyone had any experience using disount codes in connection with their reward reservation? Even with a free rental, taxes and fees (which are my responsibility to pay) are still over $40.00 for the 2 days. I've found a discount code with Avis that would bring the taxes down to about $20.00. Any advice is appreciated.

One piece of advice is to either (1)pick the rental up at a site off the airport property to avoid the airport concession fees or (2) where it asks if you are flying in on an airline, say "no, you are local" and you will avoid huge fees. I've come across that just playing with codes and checking or unchecking boxes and it saves me $10-15 for a couple days. That's lunch! Have fun in Tahoe. I'm hoping to hit the Boyne's this week.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PetoskeyFlyer: where it asks if you are flying in on an airline, say "no, you are local" and you will avoid huge fees.</font>

Huh?? How its that going save you the rental car taxes?
Dunno where you been renting, but most places I rent at the airport no story could come up with is going get you out at the taxes.
mike